The HTC Surround is one of the first few Windows Phone 7 devices to hit the market in the U.S. It will be available on AT&T, and in addition to featuring Windows Phone 7, it’s got a few other tricks up its sleeve. It’s not your average “black-slab” phone that everyone else keeps releasing. That’s right, it’s got a weird slide out Dolby Mobile speaker system, with a hidden kickstand. Is this rare form-factor worth the price of admission? Read on to find out!

Have you unlocked your HTC WP7 device using ChevronWP7 and found it re-locked after syncing with Zune? XDA user thesecondsfade at has an interesting thread going about keeping your HTC WP7 device from locking itself after using the ChevronWP7 app to unlock. This program uses some of the same methods that the ChevronWP7 custom ringtone manager uses to add ringtones to your device.

Rather than add ringtones however, it accomplishes this goal by using TouchXplorer to copy a provisioning XML, or “ProvXML” file to the device. The ProvXML is named CustClear.xml, and is [...]

Thanks to the nimble-fingered team at iFixit, we discovered exactly where the hidden microSD slot lies on AT&T’s Windows Phone 7-powered HTC Surround, emboldening us to attempt our own extraction and transplant. The good news is that upgrading the storage is indeed possible and can be performed in a similar manner to the HTC HD7; the bad news is that disassembling your Surround not only takes a good deal of care, it will unquestionably void your warranty. That being said, if you do plan to undertake this project (and thus preclude your handset from any factory-sanctioned [...]

The alarm functionality in Windows Phone 7 may be making some HTC 7 Mozarts freeze and become unresponsive, according to the observations of users on the XDA-Developers forums.

The limited number of reports suggests this issue may not affect all Mozarts the same, or the steps needed to trigger it are specific enough that most users don’t run into any problems. The common thread among the reported freezes is that an alarm was set and goes off as planned, but the user ignores the phone for an extended period of time. When they go to finally dismiss the alarm, their Mozart [...]

You most probably remember — in case you didn’t take advantage of — AT&T’s Windows Phone 7 BOGO deal where you buy one of the devices in its line-up (LG Quantum, HTC Surround or Samsung Focus) and get another Windows Phone 7 for free.

In case you bought a Windows Phone 7 handset from AT&T in the past 30 days, you are lucky as you might still be eligible for the BOGO deal. Microsoft tweeted the info from its Windows Phone account announcing the good (for some) news; to find out whether you qualify or not, contact AT&T and make sure you have [...]

Australian developer Chris Walsh recently found a method to run so-called native code on the platform indicating that jailbreaking Windows Phone 7 could be possible, though it’s a first step in a huge process.

Same developer seems to have conquered another OS tower as he now tweeted that he’s got registry and file system access. The tweet also mentions that this was achieved on Samsung and HTC devices and the developer is committed to getting that on LG handsets too. Are these hacks device dependent? Normally they shouldn’t be but, as with the case of USB [...]

We previously posted three of the latest Windows Phone 7 ads from Microsoft’s humorous “Really” ad campaign. Well, two more expanded scenes from the series have surfaced, which are posted below. The last three ads were for AT&T’s Samsung Focus, but these promote the HTC Surround on TELUS.

In the first clip, a diver is unknowingly dangling his feet in shark infested waters while being distracted by his smartphone. This, of course, would lead to a painful outcome. The next scene takes place in an emergency room, where a patient awakes to find that his [...]

Seen the Microsoft Windows Phone 7 TV ads lately? You know, the “Really” campaign while jogging, at baseball and in bed? It’s time for some Windows Phone 7 love from AT&T, the premier carrier for the platform.

Samsung Focus and HTC Surround are both starring in a separate, device dedicated TV ad that seems to emphasize on the winning features for each device. The Samsung Focus is the Windows Phone with beauty and brains “that gets you to the stuff you love faster” while the HTC Surround will surely amaze you with its stage presence and Dolby [...]

The two HTC Windows Phone 7’s available in the U.S.A. right now are the HTC HD7 and the HTC Surround. Both have many similar features, but how do they compare? They’ve both got nice little kickstands, attractive styling, and the beautiful Windows Phone 7, but what are the differences between the screens? Are the Surround’s speakers really that good? What about the cameras? We’ve got the answers in the following video.

The day is here! After a long time of waiting and anticipation, November 8, the date for U.S. Windows Phone 7 device launch has finally arrived and you can grab a brand new handset running the highly anticipated mobile OS from Microsoft. We’ll show you what’s available, where and how much it will cost.

There are basically three handsets available today: HTC HD7, HTC Surround and Samsung Focus. There was word on Dell Venue Pro November 8 availability from Microsoft but so far the device is still teasing us from the shadows as it is late to appear online.

Today is the day many of us have been waiting for, the date for Windows Phone 7 device launch and since it’s already November 8, AT&T just launched its Windows Phone 7 website featuring the HTC Surround, Samsung Focus and LG Quantum.

Those of you who don’t want to actually go to the store can purchase the Surround and Focus straight from the carrier. Both handsets run for $199.99 on a two year contract and require a $15/month data plan (with both priced at $499.99 with no commitment purchase). While the LG Quantum is still on preorder, the Surround and Focus are [...]

First there was the initial project of getting Windows Phone 7 to boot on an HTC HD2. Then we saw a video of an alleged full port running on the legacy Windows Mobile device and today we’re presented a five minute video with more Windows Phone 7 running on the HTC HD2.

The video demonstration boots the new operating system on the HTC HD2 side by side with the HTC Surround (which by the way is booting faster) and Windows Phone 7 on the Leo seems to be supporting phone operations too as the author calls the Surround using the HD2. There’s also demonstration of [...]

At this point it should really come as no surprise — considering that sales begin in less than a week — but it’s worth mentioning that neither AT&T nor T-Mobile will be taking pre-orders for their inventory of Windows Phone 7 launch devices. We could previously surmise from T-Mobile’s HTC HD7 landing page that there would be no pre-order period — a helpful notification feature is offered in case you forget when the 8th falls this month — and now AT&T has responded to a tweet by stating that handset availability would be on a “first [...]

Here’s a look at some of the applications that AT&T has added. These are not the bloated add-on applications you might have expected. They can actually be quite useful. If you want, you can easily tap and hold on the application icon in the programs listing and choose “Uninstall”. That will remove the application from the phone permanently that is unless you do a Factory Reset, at which point the original AT&T applications will get reinstalled in the background during first boot.

The US only HTC 7 Surround as well as the HTC 7 Pro rumored to arrive in Europe early 2011 have just made their appearance on HTC’s official YouTube channel with a First Look video for each of the two models.

The HTC 7 Surround video seems to focus on the sound – which is advertized to be massive thanks to the integrated slide-out boombox speakers – as well as the integrated kick-stand while the first look for the HTC 7 Pro – with the Sprint logo on it – seems to bring the slide-out QWERTY keyboard in the center of attention, with great impact on [...]

Best Buy is full of juicy information today, first showing off a pair of exclusive white handsets, and now revealing that AT&T’s just-announced HTC Surround will retail for $550 unsubsidized. This off contract price for a brand new Windows Phone 7 is very much in line with other high-end hardware like Verizon’s Motorola Droid family and the dual 4G models on Sprint. Like the other two Windows Phone 7 devices launching on AT&T — the LG Quantum and Samsung Focus — HTC’s Surround (known internationally as the 7 Surround) will retail for $200 with a [...]

There’s a company called Audience that makes a voice processor to suppress noise that is being used in at least two Windows Phone 7 handsets, the HTC Surround and the Samsung Focus. Noise cancellation isn’t new to the smartphone world. By our count, the iPhone 4 (demo), Nexus One, Droid X (demo), and Samsung Captive all utilize dual microphones (with Audience’s chip) to provide noise suppression. Even HTC’s Touch Pro2 had the chip for use in “conference room” mode. In our tests, the Audience chip does a pretty fantastic job at cutting down on ambient [...]

We’re still catching our breath from the whirlwind of news that swept across the smartphone plains yesterday in the form of Windows Phone 7 launch details, and we imagine that some of you are a little overwhelmed as well. Therefore we thought we’d recap all of our coverage for you in this handy guide, along with charts detailing specs of all the initial devices plus distribution plans broken down by country and carrier. We hope that you enjoyed our WP7 articles as much as we enjoyed bringing them to you, and we’d like to thank everyone for tuning in to Pocketnow for [...]

Telus will not be the only provider bringing Windows Phone 7 devices to Canada, as both Rogers and Bell have signed up to stock the Samsung Focus and LG Quantum (pictured left to right), respectively. With Telus scheduled to offer the HTC 7 Surround and LG Optimus 7, Canadian consumers now look to have a decent four-device selection to choose from. AT&T will be selling the Focus, Quantum, and Surround in the US, although the Optimus 7 will not be available from any domestic carriers at launch. With the US in general receiving the lion’s share of handsets at launch, we wonder [...]

So we think we may have solved the confusing web of codenames surrounding HTC’s Windows Phone 7 launch lineup. Although not all the pieces fit perfectly, we find the following scenario to be most likely. We’ll start with the easy ones and move on to less concrete associations.

1. HD7 = Shubert/Schubert

This one has been common knowledge for several days now, and many sources have already started to use the two names interchangeably.

2. 7 Mozart = Mozart

Sort of a no-brainer at first glance, but it bothers us that HTC would use the same branding [...]

The HTC Surround is a unique device. It has a sliding mechanism that reveals Dolby-certified stereo speakers, and a kickstand that can prop the device on a table for easy listening. We have to say that we weren’t too excited by the concept of having “better speakers” on a smartphone, having experience our share of tinny sound, but after listening to the device at loud volume, we were impressed. The music had greater mid-range than we’re accustomed to from smartphone speakers. Also, when cranked to 100% volume, we detected no distortion. But, don’t expect [...]

HTC has just launched their Windows Phone 7 line-up today, the day Microsoft officially went public with their new mobile platform.

The HTC 7 Surround will be the only one of the five new HTC devices that will exclusively be available in the US packing a 1 GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon QSD8250, 512MB ROM, 576MB RAM, 8GB Internal Storage, 3.8-inch SLCD touch screen, HSPA/WCDMA (850/1900/2100 MHz) Upload speed of up to 2 Mbps and download speed of up to 7.2 Mbps Quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE: (850/900/1800/1900 MHz) Radio, 5.0 megapixel camera with auto focus and flash including 720p HD video [...]